[WRE ADVISOR | BUSINESS] WATERMARKS
The highs and lows of shipping on the Mississippi River
BY JOE NOLAN I
n the last several years, the water levels on the Mississippi have ranged from dangerous fl ooding to almost unnavigable lows during a drought that has been characterized as the worst in three decades. More disturbing than either of these extremes is the fact that the Mississippi is becoming increasingly unpredictable overall, and an already beat-up shipping industry that sinks or swims on the river’s channels is facing an uncertain year.
At the end of 2012, Mid-Missouri Public Radio
Station KBIA reported that drought conditions were causing another drop in the Mississippi River’s water level and that river commerce could be ground down to a halt as early as mid-January. In addition to the drought, ice on the northern section of the river was also being blamed for reducing fl ow more drastically than had been predicted. KBIA reported that the Coast Guard was confi dent that though the nation’s largest waterway was facing the worst drought in decades, it would remain open. However, industry groups were not as confi dent
about the river sustaining business as usual. Barges on the waterway had been carrying smaller loads at slower speeds for months, and Deborah Colbert of the Waterways Council claimed that further load limits would make shipping nonviable by mid-January. “T e impacts have already been felt; export orders plummeting, other orders are being curtailed or cancelled altogether, companies are considering layoff s,” she said. “And so again, January 15th is D-Day.” But it wasn’t. On January 10, Reuters reported that a storm system moving up the river valley was replenishing the waterway, and though there had been
“Use of the river has dropped off and that’s not something that comes back
right away.” - Gordon Miller, Co-Owner, Robert B. Miller and Associates
Barges navigate through a narrowed section of the Mississippi River near St. Louis, MO on Dec. 14, 2012, due to the drop of water levels in the river. The 2012 severe drought has aff ected current fl ow conditions in the Mississippi River and caused low water levels exposing shoals and potentially putting river traffi c at risk for running aground. Barge movements on the Mississippi River are important to U.S. Agriculture for the transportation approximately 50 percent of U.S. grain; such as corn, soybean, wheat and rice. Though water levels are low, the Mississippi River is still open to transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues to work with Federal partners to monitor conditions on this critical waterway for U.S. commodities.
76 MARCH-APRIL 2013 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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